Domenico Fontana
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| - | [[Image:Tomb of Pompeii by Jean-Baptiste Tierce.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Tomb]] of [[Pompeii]] by [[Jean-Baptiste Tierce]], [[1766]]]] | ||
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| - | '''Pompeii''' is a ruined [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] city near modern [[Naples]] in the [[Italy|Italian]] region of [[Campania]], in the territory of the [[comune]] of [[Pompei]]. | ||
| - | It, along with [[Herculaneum]] were [[destroyed]], and completely [[buried]], during a catastrophic eruption of the [[volcano]] [[Mount Vesuvius]] on [[24 August]] [[79]] AD. | ||
| - | The volcano buried Pompeii under many meters of ash, and it was lost for 1,600 years before its accidental rediscovery in [[1748]]. Since then, its excavation has provided an extraordinarily detailed insight into the life of a city at the height of the Roman Empire. Today, it is one of the most popular tourist attractions of [[Italy]] and a [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site]]. | + | '''Domenico Fontana''' (1543 – [[June 28]] [[1607]]) was a [[Switzerland|Swiss]]-born [[Italy|Italian]] [[architect]] of the late [[Renaissance]]. |
| - | ===Rediscovery=== | + | |
| - | After thick layers of ash covered the two towns, they were abandoned and eventually their names and locations were forgotten. Then Herculaneum was rediscovered in 1738 by workmen working on the foundation of a summer palace for the King of Naples, [[Charles III of Spain|Charles of Bourbon]]. Pompeii was rediscovered as the result of intentional excavations in 1748 by the Spanish military engineer [[Rocque Joaquin de Alcubierre]]. These towns have since been excavated to reveal many intact buildings and wall paintings. The towns were actually found in 1599 by the architect [[Domenico Fontana]], who was digging a new course for the river [[Sarno]], but it took more than 150 years before a serious campaign was started to unearth them. [[Charles III of Spain|Charles of Bourbon]] took great interest in the findings even after becoming king of Spain because the display of antiquities reinforced the political and cultural power of Naples. | + | He was born at [[Melide, Switzerland|Melide]] on the [[Lake Lugano]] and died at [[Naples]]. He went to [[Rome]] before the death of [[Michelangelo]]. He won the confidence of Cardinal Montalto, later [[Pope Sixtus V]], who entrusted him in 1584 with the erection of the [[Cappella del Presepio]] (Chapel of the Manger) in [[Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore]], a powerful domical building over a Greek cross. It is a marvellously well-balanced structure, notwithstanding the profusion of detail and overloading of rich ornamentation, which in no way interferes with the main architectural scheme. It is crowned by a dome in the early style of S. Mario at [[Montepulciano]]. |
| - | [[Karl Jakob Weber|Karl Weber]] directed the first real excavations; he was followed in 1764 by military engineer Franscisco la Vega. Franscisco la Vega was succeeded by his brother, [[Pietro la Vega|Pietro]], in 1804. During the French occupation Pietro worked with Christophe Saliceti. | + | For the same patron, he constructed the [[Palazzo Montalto]] near [[Santa Maria Maggiore]], with its skilful distribution of masses and tied decorative scheme of reliefs and festoons, impressive because of the dexterity with which the artist adapted the plan to the site at his disposal. After his accession as Sixtus V, he appointed Fontana architect of [[St. Peter's Basilica|St. Peter's]], bestowing upon him, among other distinctions, the title of Knight of the Golden Spur. He added the lantern to the dome of St. Peter's and proposed the prolongation of the interior in a well-defined nave. |
| - | [[Giuseppe Fiorelli]] took charge of the excavations in 1860. During early excavations of the site, occasional voids in the ash layer had been found that contained human remains. It was Fiorelli who realized these were spaces left by the decomposed bodies and so devised the technique of injecting [[plaster]] into them to perfectly recreate the forms of Vesuvius's victims. What resulted were highly accurate and eerie forms of the doomed ''Pompeiani'' who failed to escape, in their last moment of life, with the expression of terror often quite clearly visible. This technique is still in use today, with a clear [[resin]] now used instead of plaster because it is more durable, and does not destroy the bones, allowing further analysis. | + | Of more importance were the alterations he made in [[Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano]] (c.1586), where he introduced into the loggia of the north facade an imposing double arcade of wide span and ample sweep, and probably added the two-story portico the ''Scala Santa''. This predilection for arcades as essential features of an architectural scheme was brought out in the fountains designed by Domenico and his brother Giovanni, e.g. the ''Fontana dell'Acqua Paola'', or the ''Fontana di Termini'' planned along the same lines. |
| - | Some have theorized that Fontana found some of the famous erotic [[fresco]]es and, due to the strict modesty prevalent during his time, reburied them in an attempt at archaeological censorship. This view is bolstered by reports of later excavators who felt that sites they were working on had already been visited and reburied. Even many recovered household items had a sexual theme. The ubiquity of such imagery and items indicates that the sexual [[mores]] of the [[Culture of ancient Rome|ancient Roman culture]] of the time were much more liberal than most present-day cultures, although much of what might seem to us to be erotic imagery (eg. over-sized phalluses) was in fact fertility-imagery. This [[culture shock|clash of cultures]] led to an unknown number of discoveries being hidden away again. A wall fresco which depicted [[Priapus]], the ancient god of sex and fertility, with his extremely enlarged [[penis]], was covered with plaster, even the older reproduction below was locked away "out of prudishness" and only opened on request and only rediscovered in 1998 due to rainfall. | + | Among profane buildings his strong restrained style, with its suggestion of the School of [[Vignola]], is best exemplified in the [[Lateran Palace]] (begun in 1586), in which the vigorous application of sound structural principles and a power of co-ordination are undeniable, but also the utter lack of imagination and barren monotony of style. It was characteristic of him to remain satisfied with a single solution to an architectural problem, as shown in the fact that he reapplied the motif of the Lateran Palace in the later part of the Vatican containing the present papal residence, and in the additions to the [[Quirinal Palace]]. |
| - | In 1819, when King [[Francis I of Naples]] visited the Pompeii exhibition at the [[Naples National Archaeological Museum|National Museum]] with his wife and daughter, he was so embarrassed by the erotic artwork that he decided to have it locked away in a [[Secret Museum, Naples|secret cabinet]], accessible only to "people of mature age and respected morals". Re-opened, closed, re-opened again and then closed again for nearly 100 years, it was briefly made accessible again at the end of the 1960s (the time of the [[sexual revolution]]) and was finally re-opened for viewing in 2000. Minors are still only allowed entry to the once secret cabinet in the presence of a guardian or with written permission. | + | Fontana also designed the transverse arms separating the courts of the Vatican. In 1586 he erected the 327 ton [[obelisk]] in the Square of St. Peter's. This feat of engineering took the concerted effort of 900 men, 75 horses and countless pulleys and meters of rope. |
| - | A large number of [[Artifact (archaeology)|artifacts]] come from Pompeii are preserved in the [[Naples National Archaeological Museum]]. | ||
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| - | == See also == | ||
| - | |||
| - | *[[Erotic art in Pompeii and Herculaneum]] | ||
| - | *[[Secret Museum]] | ||
| - | *[[Erotic art]] | ||
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Revision as of 21:33, 3 July 2009
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Domenico Fontana (1543 – June 28 1607) was a Swiss-born Italian architect of the late Renaissance.
He was born at Melide on the Lake Lugano and died at Naples. He went to Rome before the death of Michelangelo. He won the confidence of Cardinal Montalto, later Pope Sixtus V, who entrusted him in 1584 with the erection of the Cappella del Presepio (Chapel of the Manger) in Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, a powerful domical building over a Greek cross. It is a marvellously well-balanced structure, notwithstanding the profusion of detail and overloading of rich ornamentation, which in no way interferes with the main architectural scheme. It is crowned by a dome in the early style of S. Mario at Montepulciano.
For the same patron, he constructed the Palazzo Montalto near Santa Maria Maggiore, with its skilful distribution of masses and tied decorative scheme of reliefs and festoons, impressive because of the dexterity with which the artist adapted the plan to the site at his disposal. After his accession as Sixtus V, he appointed Fontana architect of St. Peter's, bestowing upon him, among other distinctions, the title of Knight of the Golden Spur. He added the lantern to the dome of St. Peter's and proposed the prolongation of the interior in a well-defined nave.
Of more importance were the alterations he made in Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano (c.1586), where he introduced into the loggia of the north facade an imposing double arcade of wide span and ample sweep, and probably added the two-story portico the Scala Santa. This predilection for arcades as essential features of an architectural scheme was brought out in the fountains designed by Domenico and his brother Giovanni, e.g. the Fontana dell'Acqua Paola, or the Fontana di Termini planned along the same lines.
Among profane buildings his strong restrained style, with its suggestion of the School of Vignola, is best exemplified in the Lateran Palace (begun in 1586), in which the vigorous application of sound structural principles and a power of co-ordination are undeniable, but also the utter lack of imagination and barren monotony of style. It was characteristic of him to remain satisfied with a single solution to an architectural problem, as shown in the fact that he reapplied the motif of the Lateran Palace in the later part of the Vatican containing the present papal residence, and in the additions to the Quirinal Palace.
Fontana also designed the transverse arms separating the courts of the Vatican. In 1586 he erected the 327 ton obelisk in the Square of St. Peter's. This feat of engineering took the concerted effort of 900 men, 75 horses and countless pulleys and meters of rope.
